Falcons Head into the Homestretch, Host KSU Saturday

Saturday, February 21

Bowling Green, OH

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Kent State

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Ball rack BGSU women's basketball Talons Up MJC photo

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

February 20, 2015 | Women's Basketball

BGSU meets the Golden Flashes in the second half of a hoops doubleheader at the Stroh

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team returns to the court this weekend, embarking upon the homestretch of the 2014-15 season. The Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos will close the regular-season schedule with games against each of the other five Mid-American Conference East Division schools, beginning with a Saturday (Feb. 21) meeting with Kent State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center, and the game is the second half of a doubleheader which sees the BGSU men's basketball team host Buffalo in a 2:00 p.m. start.

GAME NOTES
BGSU | Kent State

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make it to the Stroh Center on Saturday, you can still follow the Falcons via your radio- or computer-like devices. The game will be broadcast by WBGU-FM 88.1, the flagship home of Falcon women's basketball, and will be available over the air or on the web.

Additionally, live stats for Saturday's game, as well as a video stream (fee required) will be available via BGSUFalcons.com. And, in-game twitter updates can be found at @BGSUwbb. Log on to BGSUFalcons.com and click the 'calendar' link on the day or the game, or navigate your way to the women's basketball schedule page and bask in the veritable plethora of links.

TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE: FALCONS SECOND IN THE NATION IN FT PCT.
• As of Thursday evening (Feb. 19), the Falcons were ranked second in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. After shooting 89.5 percent from the line (17-of-19) in last Saturday's Ball State game, BGSU is now shooting 78.0% (340-of-436) from the charity stripe this season. Drexel currently leads the nation with a 78.9% free-throw rate. The BGSU single-season record for FT percentage is 79.9% by the 2010-11 team.

• The Falcons' 78.0% overall percentage is impressive, to be sure, but BG is shooting an even-better 79.5% as a team in MAC games. Through the first 13 conference contests, BGSU has made 178-of-224 shots from the stripe.

• The Falcons have made at least 70% of their free throws in 21 of this year's 24 games, including 15 of the last 17 contests (and 11 of the 13 MAC games).

• Individually, senior Deborah Hoekstra is second in the MAC and 11th in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. Hoekstra has gone 71-of-79 at the stripe this season, good for a success rate of 89.9%.

TAKE SOME MORE – WE SAID THEY WERE FREE
• As mentioned earlier, the Falcons lead the MAC and are ranked second in the nation in free-throw percentage. And, senior Deborah Hoekstra ranks second in the league and 11th in the country among individuals.

• In conference games, Hoekstra also ranks second in the MAC in free-throw accuracy, but she is also second on her own team. Freshman Rachel Myers leads the league in success at the stripe in conference contests, having gone 28-of-30 (93.3%) against MAC foes, while Hoekstra has hit 44-of-49 shots (89.8%) in league games to date.

LAST TIME OUT: CARDINALS SURGE PAST FALCONS
• Host Ball State used a late first-half run to build a double-digit lead, and the Cardinals held off every BGSU comeback attempt last Saturday afternoon (Feb. 14). BSU downed the Falcons, 77-52, at Worthen Arena.

• Shelbie Justice scored 21 points for Ball State (13-10, 9-3 MAC), pacing four players in double figures. Justice made 7-of-10 shots from the field, including three of her four three-point field-goal attempts.

• For the Falcons (9-15, 2-11 MAC), senior Deborah Hoekstra led the way with 17 points, while freshman Rachel Myers scored 11. Myers knocked down three of BGSU's seven successful three-pointers, while Hoekstra was 8-of-9 from the free-throw line, setting career bests in shots made and attempted from the stripe.

• As a team, the Falcons made 17-of-19 shots from the line, good for an 89.5% success rate.

• The Falcons fell behind by a 16-6 count, but BGSU then scored eight-straight points, getting within two points on a triple by Hoekstra. The Cards countered with a layup, but a three-pointer by junior Miriam Justinger cut BG's deficit to just one point, 18-17, with just over nine minutes left in the first half.

• But, the Cardinals went on a 22-5 run over the remainder of the half. The hosts scored five-straight points, and after a Hoekstra jumper at the 7:49 mark, BSU proceeded to score the next 13 points, including back-to-back three-pointers by Jill Morrison. When the second of those shots went through the net, Ball State had a 36-19 lead with just under 90 seconds left in the half.

• BG trailed by 17, 40-23, at the intermission, and the Falcons got as close as 14 points on two occasions in the second period. But, each time, Justice responded with a layup, including a three-point play with 9:18 remaining. Her second such layup, with exactly seven minutes to go, began a 12-0 run that increased the BSU lead to 73-47.

• The Cardinals shot 46.9% for the game, and BSU went 9-of-20 (55.0%) from three-point land, with Justice and Morrison each hitting three treys. Nathalie Fontaine had 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the hosts, while Morrison added 11 points and Renee Bennett 10.

• Justinger scored nine points for the Falcons, adding five rebounds and four assists. She tied Hoekstra for the team rebounding lead, and tied for game honors in the assists department.

THREE-MENDOUS
• The Falcons have made 6.5 three-point field goals per game this year to date, ranking third in the MAC. In conference play, the Falcons have hit an even 7.0 treys per contest, good for second in the league. BGSU has made at least four three-pointers in each of this season's 24 games.

• In fact, the Falcons have hit at least four triples in 35-straight games against MAC foes. The last time BG failed to make four three-pointers against a conference opponent came on March 6, 2013, when the Falcons went 2-of-18 from long distance in a road win over Kent State.

THREE-MARKABLE
BGSU made seven three-point field goals in the Ball State game. The Falcons now have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 335 games. BG has not been held without a triple in nearly 10 years – since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons won, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from long distance.

YOUTH IS SERVED
• The Falcons have had four players suffer season- or career-ending injuries this season, with a fifth player missing large chunks of time due to injury as well. As a result, many BG freshmen have had an opportunity to gain valuable experience. True freshmen Rachel Myers (27.5), Haley Puk (20.9) and Sarah Baer (12.2) all are averaging double-digit minutes per game, and each member of that trio has started at least five games.

• Additionally, redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick, who missed nearly all of last season due to injury, is averaging 18.7 minutes per game this winter.

• The 2014-15 season marks the first time three freshmen have started one or more games since 2007-08 (Lauren Prochaska and Crystal Murdaugh started all 34 games that year, while Chelsea Albert made six starts).

• BGSU has not had four frosh average double-digit minutes since the 2003-04 season, when first-year Falcons Ali Mann, Liz Honegger, Megan Thorburn and Carin Horne each played over 10 minutes per game. That quartet went on to lead BG to 31 wins and a trip to the 'Sweet Sixteen' round of the 2007 NCAA Championships as seniors.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Kent State game with an overall record of 9-15, and BGSU is 2-11 in Mid-American Conference play. BG is looking to snap a six-game losing streak, the team's longest since a school record-tying seven-game slide early in the 1999-2000 season.

• BGSU had won two-straight games at home before dropping contests to Toledo (Jan. 31) and Central Michigan (Feb. 4) at the Stroh Center. The Falcons are 4-5 at home, 4-9 on the road and 1-1 at neutral-site venues this season.

• After winning four-straight games prior to Christmas, BGSU then dropped five consecutive contests, including the first three MAC games of the season. The Falcons snapped that streak with a 65-59 win over Northern Illinois at the Stroh on Jan. 14, and BG's other MAC win to date came against Miami 10 days later.

• That five-game post-holiday losing streak, not coincidentally, came after 25 percent of the roster – three of the 12 players on the team at that time – were lost for the season due to injury. That figure reached 33.3% as a fourth player suffered a season-ending injury in early January.

• After opening the season with a one-point loss to Bucknell, BGSU bounced back with three-straight wins, beginning with a convincing 80-59 home victory over Iona. The Falcons went on the road and downed Milwaukee, then headed to the left coast and topped UC Irvine before suffering a narrow loss to Loyola Marymount. The latter two games came at the DoubleTree LA Westside Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by LMU.

• The Falcons returned home and posted a 66-55 win over Cincinnati, the team's lone home game in a month-and-a-half span, to begin a four-game winning streak. Road wins over Saint Francis (Pa.), Illinois State and Bradley followed, but two players suffered season-ending injuries in that ISU game.

• The Brown and Orange dropped a pair of games just after the Christmas holiday in Miami, Fla., against Hampton and the host school at the FIU Sun & Fun Classic. BG opened MAC play with a home loss to Ball State and road setbacks at Akron and Kent State. The Falcons had only seven players in uniform for the UA contest on Jan. 7.

• Redshirt junior Erica Donovan and freshman Lauren Webb were injured in that Illinois State game. Donovan was the Falcons' leading scorer and rebounder at the time of her injury, with 15.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. She had 20 points in each of her last two games, vs. SFU and ISU, with a career-high 15 boards in the latter contest.

• Sophomore Abby Siefker and redshirt freshman Leah Bolton also are expected to miss the rest of the season. Bolton saw action in the Falcons' exhibition game on Nov. 7, but did not play in a regular-season game in 2014-15.

• Siefker started the first 12 games of the year, and averaged 5.4 points and 6.3 rebounds. She was second on the team in rebounding behind Donovan, and led the Falcons in blocked shots, with 1.0 rejections per game.

• Of the active Falcons, only two – junior Miriam Justinger and sophomore Rachel Konieczki – have started all 24 games this season to date. Senior Deborah Hoekstra, after coming off the bench for the first 83 games of her BGSU career, has started the last 18 games. Freshmen Rachel Myers and Haley Puk have made 12 and 11 starts, respectively, with senior Jasmine Matthews starting six times and freshman Sarah Baer five.

• Hoekstra leads the active Falcons in scoring, with 11.6 points per game, while Justinger and Myers have scored 9.9 and 8.6 ppg, respectively. Konieczki has 5.7 points per contest, with redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick averaging 4.9 ppg and Puk 4.7.

• Hoekstra is averaging 6.0 rebounds per game, tops among the members of the active roster, and she has 7.8 rpg in MAC play. Hoekstra has led the Falcons in rebounding, or tied for the team lead, in eight of the last 12 games. Justinger has 5.3 rpg this season to date. Hoekstra has posted four double-doubles – all in conference contests – after Justinger had her first career double-double in the MAC opener vs. Ball State.

• Justinger has 2.2 assists per game to pace the Falcons in that category, while Konieczki has 1.5 assists and Hoekstra 1.3 helpers per contest. Kirkpatrick has handed out 1.2 assists per game.

• Justinger and Konieczki have 1.2 steals per game apiece, tying for the team lead in that category, while Hoekstra has 1.0 spg. Baer leads the active Falcons with a total of seven blocked shots this year, and Hoekstra has six.

• BGSU is shooting 35.3 percent from the field, 31.0% from three-point range and 78.0% (good for second in the nation) from the free-throw line through 24 games. The Falcons' opponents have shot 40.9% from the floor, 28.8% from the arc and 66.5% from the stripe.

• The Falcons have averaged 6.5 three-pointers made this year, including a season-high 11 at Eastern Michigan (Jan. 17) and 10 against Central Michigan (Feb. 4). Hoekstra has hit 43 triples – including a career-high five in that CMU game – to lead the way, while Myers has knocked down 39 long-range attempts. Justinger and Puk have connected 21 and 18 times, respectively, from beyond the arc, while Konieczki has made 13 three-point tries and Kirkpatrick 12.

• Hoekstra, Justinger, Konieczki, Myers and Puk each have seen action in all 24 games, while Kirkpatrick has played in 23 games and Baer 20. Matthews has played in 12 games this season, but has missed 10 of the last 18 contests due to injury. After starting the first six games of the year and averaging 22.5 minutes per game, Matthews has averaged just 4.5 minutes per appearance since Christmas.

• Senior Erica Fullenkamp joined the team on Jan. 8, and made her BGSU women's basketball debut six days later in the first NIU meeting. A former Falcon volleyball standout, Fullenkamp has played in each of the last 10 games, averaging 0.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in 7.0 minutes per outing.

• In MAC games, Hoekstra leads the team with 12.5 ppg, with Justinger and Myers averaging 10.8 ppg each. Hoekstra, as mentioned, has 7.8 rpg to lead the Falcons in that category, and she also tops BG in blocked shots in MAC games. Justinger has 5.3 rpg and 2.0 apg in conference contests. Myers has hit 28 triples and Hoekstra 26 vs. MAC foes. BGSU is shooting 79.5% from the free-throw line in MAC games, having made 178-of-224 shots from the stripe.

• The Falcons returned six letterwinners, including two starters (Donovan and Justinger), from a 2013-14 team that won 30 overall games and captured a MAC regular-season title with a 17-1 league ledger. BGSU won the East Division crown, and the Falcons had the best overall record in MAC play for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons. The division title was the program's ninth in that 10-year span.

• Last year's edition of the Brown and Orange advanced to national postseason play for the 10th consecutive March, winning three games in the WNIT before falling in the quarterfinal round to eventual tourney champion Rutgers. BGSU won more than 20 games for the 11th consecutive year.

• In addition to the six returnees, head coach Jennifer Roos and her staff – assistant coaches Jesse Fleming, Jacey Brooks and Sahar Nusseibeh and director of operations Monique Rosati – also added six players with freshman status on the roster. The 12-player active roster at the start of the 2014-15 season included two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and four true frosh.

THE KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
Kent State will enter Saturday's game with an overall record of 4-20, and the Golden Flashes are 2-11 in MAC play. KSU has split a pair of two-point games over the last week, beating Northern Illinois, 54-52, on a shot at the buzzer last weekend (Feb. 14), then falling at Buffalo by a 59-57 score Wednesday night (Feb. 18). The Flashes are 3-6 at home, 1-12 on the road and 0-2 in neutral-site matchups this year, and KSU is 2-4 at the M.A.C. Center and 0-7 at hostile venues in MAC play. Individually, sophomore guard Larissa Lurken leads a balanced scoring attack with 10.6 points per game. Lurken has hit 45 of the Flashes' 77 three-point field goals this season. Senior center CiC Shannon has 9.6 ppg and leads the Flashes with 8.7 rebounds per game. Shannon also leads the team – and the MAC – with 2.3 blocked shots per contest. freshman forward Jordan Korinek and sophomore guard Krista White are averaging 7.4 and 7.1 ppg, respectively, while two other Flashes have 6.6 ppg apiece. Last year, head coach Danielle O'Banion and the Golden Flashes went 7-23 overall and 4-14 in the MAC. O'Banion welcomed back seven letterwinners, including three starters, from the 2013-14 club.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Kent State, 52-29, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Golden Flashes won this season's first game. Prior to that, BGSU had won eight-straight meetings and 21-of-22 matchups with the Flashes.

• Last month (Jan. 10, 2015), host KSU shot nearly 62 percent from the field in the second half, holding off a late BGSU charge for a 55-48 win over the Falcons. CiCi Shannon had 16 points and 20 rebounds for the Flashes.

• BGSU swept last year's two games vs. KSU, with a 58-39 decision at the M.A.C. Center (Jan. 9, 2014) and an 82-38 triumph at the Stroh Center (Feb. 27, 2014).

• Prior to last month's game, the Falcons had held the Flashes under 40 points four times in a five-game span, and KSU scored just 43 points in the other meeting during that time.

• Kent State won 12-straight series matchups, and 17-of-18 contests, before BGSU captured the next 13 meetings. Kent State won a 44-43 decision in Kent four years ago (Jan. 15, 2011), and BG then won eight consecutive games before last month's loss.

• BGSU is 25-10 in home games (including 4-0 inside the Stroh Center), 20-17 in road contests and 7-2 in neutral-site meetings with Kent/Kent State over the years.

• Jennifer Roos is 5-1 against Kent State as a collegiate head coach.

STROH CENTER = HOUSE OF HORRORS FOR KSU
The women's basketball Falcons have a perfect 4-0 record at the Stroh Center against Kent State heading into Saturday's game. In fact, the Golden Flashes have never won an intercollegiate athletic contest of any type in the Stroh since the building opened in 2011. KSU is a combined 0-11 against the Falcons in volleyball and men's and women's basketball in the building.

SIXTY POINTS = SUCCESS AT THE STROH
The Falcons have a record of 48-13 at the Stroh Center since the building opened prior to the 2011-12 season. While a 78.7% winning percentage is certainly impressive, BGSU's chances of winning at home have increased exponentially when the team scores at least 60 points. The Falcons are 45-1 (97.8%) when reaching the 60-point mark inside the Stroh, and BG is 28-1 when scoring at least 70 points, 12-0 when hitting the 80-point mark and 3-0 when reaching the 90-point plateau.

THE EXCEPTION THAT PROVES THE RULE
• In BGSU's last home game (Feb. 11), Ohio became the first-ever MAC opponent to score more than 70 points in the Stroh Center, putting up 71 points against an injury-depleted Falcon squad.

• In 61 games at the Stroh Center, the Falcons have allowed the opponent to reach 70 points just four times. No MAC team had ever scored more than 65 points in the Stroh prior to the Ohio game, and only Akron (twice), Ball State and Toledo (once each) had reached 60 points against the Brown and Orange in the first 30 trips to the building by MAC foes.

• BG has held 46 of 61 overall opponents to fewer than 60 points at the Stroh Center. The Falcons have limited 17 of those foes to less than 50 points, and on five occasions, BGSU has kept the opposition under the 40-point mark.

FALCONS = #MACTION
Since Jennifer Roos became head coach prior to the 2012-13 season, the Falcons have a record of 30-17 in MAC regular-season games. BGSU has won those 30 games by an average of 17.1 points per game, and 24 of the 30 wins have been by double digits.

FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering the Kent State game, BGSU has an all-time record of 392-164 (.705) in MAC regular-season contests, for the most wins and highest winning pct. of all league institutions. And, BG leads the series with all 11 MAC foes, making the Falcons the only team in the league, obviously, with a winning series record against every other school. BG also has the most overall victories (755) and highest overall winning percentage (.649) of any conference school.

THE STARTING FIVE
Last season, head coach Jennifer Roos used a total of three different starting lineups over the 35-game schedule. But, this year's version of the Falcons has utilized five different lineups to date. Junior Miriam Justinger and sophomore Rachel Konieczki are the only two players to have started all 24 contests for the Brown and Orange this year to date. Nine different Falcons have started at least five games this season.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 9-15 this season, after posting a 30-5 overall record last winter, and after suffering season-ending injuries to four of the 12 players on the roster at the start of this year;
• 2-11 in MAC play. BG was 17-1 in the MAC in 2013-14, winning a division title for the ninth time in a 10-season span;
• 321-123 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 166-58 in MAC games in that time:
• 300-88 over the last 11-plus years, with 2013-14 marking BG's MAC-record 11th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 279-78 in the past 10-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in each of the 10 seasons and eight MAC overall regular-season titles (2004-10, 2012 and again in '14, plus an East Division crown in '11);
• an eye-popping 256-70 overall, and 130-29 in the MAC regular season, in the last nine-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of those nine seasons;
• a superb 228-67 in the last eight-plus years, including a 114-29 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 197-63 overall, and 99-28 in MAC regular-season games, in the last seven-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 171-55 overall and 86-25 in MAC action over the last six-plus winters;
• 142-50, including a 71-24 MAC ledger, in the last five-plus seasons;
• 115-43 overall and 57-22 in the MAC in the last four-plus years;
• 87-38 overall, and 44-19 in MAC action, since seniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 63-31 overall and 30-17 in league play since Jennifer Roos became head coach, junior Miriam Justinger joined the Falcons' roster, and redshirt junior Erica Donovan transferred to BG;
• 39-20 since Donovan and sophomores Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker began their BGSU playing careers, and redshirt freshmen Leah Bolton and Kennedy Kirkpatrick came to campus;
• 153-34 in the last 187 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 67-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 256-14 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 128-4 mark in the last six-plus seasons;
• 245-48 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 208-26 when outrebounding the opponent in that 13-plus-year span;
• 76-11 in MAC home games in the last 10-plus seasons;
• 61-19 in MAC road games over the last nine-plus years;
• 20-5 in the MAC Tournament in the last 10 years, with five titles (2005, '06, '07, '10 and '11), an additional championship-game appearance (2009), and trips to the semis in 2008, 2012 and 2014;
• 44-19 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 21-7 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 52-7 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 10-17 in 17 national postseason appearances (including a 3-11 record in the NCAA Championships and a 7-6 mark in WNIT trips);
• 9-10 in national postseason action since Roos arrived at BG (including a 2-5 mark in the NCAAs and a 7-5 record in the WNIT); and
• 48-13 at the Stroh Center, with eight of the losses coming by a total of 20 points.

A REBOUNDING MACHINE
• Just over a month ago, senior Deborah Hoekstra had never had more than six rebounds in a game. Over the last 14 games, however, the guard has had six or more rebounds 11 times, and she has AVERAGED 7.9 boards in that time. Hoekstra has set or matched her career rebounding best four times in that span, including three times in as many games, and has pulled down 10 or more boards on four occasions. She had a career-high 14 rebounds against Miami, and has 12 at Akron and 10 vs. both Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan.

• Hoekstra is averaging 6.0 rebounds on the year. In MAC play, she is averaging a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game, good for ninth in the conference. Hoekstra has BG, or tied for the team lead, in rebounding in seven of the last 10 games.

UP NEXT
Following the Kent State game, the Falcons hit the road for the next two contests, facing Miami on Wednesday (Feb. 25) and Ohio next Saturday (Feb. 28). The regular season ends with home games vs. Buffalo (March 4) and Akron (March 7) at the Stroh Center.